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“Why did I think I wanted sisters?” Jade mumbled before walking back to the kitchen.
“Don’t go traumatizing Jade,” her sister scoffed at her. “And for the record, yes. Yes, she does look like that after a date night and I try not to think too much about it.” She poured herself a cup of coffee. “So? Was it awesome? What did you guys do? And I don’t mean sexually. I mean…everything else.”
Ashlynn couldn’t help but laugh softly. Billie handed her a cup of coffee and she readily took it as she launched into all the details about the ski resort.
“Oh my goodness! I have always wanted to do that! Dammit!”
“It was very cool.”
“Did you get any details about how they’re going to renovate and what it’s going to look like?”
“Sadly, no. They’re in the beginning of the demolition phase and the section of the property we were allowed to see was one of the guest wings. I couldn’t believe Reid actually got us in there. I casually mentioned it like…once, and he went and made it happen.”
“That’s a good sign. He listens.” She paused and took a sip of her coffee. “Do you know his schedule for the rest of the week? Is he working any nights?”
“Um…tomorrow night, I think. How come?”
“You didn’t hear it from me, but…I think Chloe’s feeling a little left out.”
“What? Why? I just stayed with her last week. And we text almost every day.” Then she realized they really hadn’t actually talked—like on the phone with real conversation—much since the sleepover and that totally wasn’t like them. Texting was fine, but they hadn’t talked. “You know what? Never mind. I messed up and I’ll call her and make plans for tomorrow night with her.”
“Good.” They were quiet for a moment before Billie’s eyes went wide. “Oh! Did you hear about the fire at Lavish Locks?”
“We saw the trucks on their way there and Reid called his dispatcher for information, but they didn’t know anything yet. Why? Was it bad?”
“Bad?” her sister asked in disbelief. “Ash, it pretty much burned to the ground.”
“What?!”
Nodding, her sister went on. “Oh, yeah. It’s all everyone’s talking about. Luckily they were closed and no one got hurt, but…it had to be scary. I know Becky’s not your favorite person, but you’ve got to feel bad for her. She lost everything.”
“I guess…”
“Ashlynn Jane, you cannot be that heartless!”
“Why can’t I? You know, I lost everything too when Becky fired me, and ever since, she’s been harassing the crap out of me!” She shook her head. “So no, I don’t feel bad for her. She’s a mean person and I’m just glad nobody got hurt.”
Frowning, Billie murmured, “I guess that’s something.”
“Look, what do you want me to say, Billie? I’m not going to lie and pretend to feel something that I don’t. And what would be the point? You know darn well if I went and offered her any kind of sympathy, she’d throw it back in my face. The way I see it, it’s better to be honest.”
Fortunately, the conversation was dropped because they had customers come in and the rest of her shift went quickly. On the drive home, she made a slight detour to go past Lavish Locks just out of morbid curiosity. There was yellow tape around the perimeter of the property and, sure enough, there wasn’t much left. The building itself was brick, so most of the exterior walls were still standing, but the entire interior and back wall of the store were gone.
Maybe she felt a twinge of sadness; after all, this was where she started her hair career. It wasn’t a great job, but it wasn’t the worst either. Well, at least not until a few months ago. Before that, she certainly handled all of Becky’s negative quirks and difficult clients with as much grace as she could. Once the whole booth episode with Sandy happened, however, that had been the last straw for her. It was amazing it had taken as long as it did for Becky to fire her.
“Good riddance,” she muttered as she drove away.
Once she was home, she took a quick shower because it was crazy how much she smelled like coffee. With her hair up in a towel and wearing nothing but her robe, she sat on the sofa with her phone and texted her sister.
Ash: Are you free for dinner tomorrow night?
* * *
Chloe: Yes!
* * *
Ash: Do you want to come here and we’ll get some Chinese food?
